Northwood tax rate drops $1.41

Friday

Nov 16, 2012 at 3:15 AM

NORTHWOOD — The town’s 2012 property tax rate has been set by the state Department of Revenue Administration at $23.20 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Selectmen say this is a decrease of 6 percent or $1.41 over the 2011 rate of $24.61. This decrease represents the first time in many years the tax rate has dropped in Northwood.

The following is a breakdown of the tax rate: $3.83 for the town, $15.92 for local schools, $2.41 for state education and $1.03 for the county. This represents an 11 percent decrease for the town, and a 5 percent decrease for both the local schools and the state education tax. There was no percentage change for the county tax.

For comparison purposes, if property taxpayers had an annual payment amount of $5,000 on their semiannual tax bills sent out to them in June 2012, they will see their December 2012 bill reduced by 11.5 percent or by $577. A $4,000 annual tax bill will be reduced by $462 and a $3,000 tax bill will go down by $346.

The town’s tax decrease was attributed to several factors. There were increases to the town’s total valuation of buildings, which had a positive impact. The selectmen were operating under a default budget which voters had approved last March. Also, as in previous years the selectmen used funds from the general fund balance to lower tax rate. The fund balance is revenues above the budget and expenditures that are not spent.

DRA recommends that municipalities maintain a balance equivalent to at least 5 percent of regular general fund revenues of the town, school and county operations. The selectmen voted to maintain 8.7% percent in their fund balance to handle any emergencies that may occur during the year. They used $384,124 to offset the town’s portion of the tax rate.

The selectmen expressed appreciation to the Northwood School Board for its efforts in returning $286,000 to the town in order to reduce the school’s portion of the tax rate. The budget committee also did an excellent job in their review of both the school and town budgets.

The town clerk/tax collector has sent out the new tax bills and payments are due back by Dec. 19.